Essays in Economic History

Abstract

This dissertation addresses questions in the areas of economic history and economics of migration. It consists of introduction, literature review, three empirical research chapters on Irish Migration to the United States at the Age of Mass Migration (1892-1924), and a conclusion. Chapter one is a general introduction of the thesis. Chapter two is a general literature review for the three empirical chapters. Chapter three is a detailed description of the construction of the dataset on Irish migrants who left for Ellis Island, the US (1892-1924). Utilizing the 1901 and 1911 Irish Census Records and the Ellis Island Administrative Records on Irish migrants, I identify the individual Irish migrants in the Censuses. I apply several record linkage strategies for constructing the datasets on Irish migrants based on their county of origin and place of residence reported in the Censuses. I conclude that Irish migrants were more often male, young, literate, Gaelic-speaking and unmarried adults. I find that male migrants were more often engaged in agricultural occupations while female migrants were more often working in service sector. Chapter four, joint with Gaia Narciso and Battista Severgnini, investigates the role of the Great Irish Famine (1845-1850), one of the most lethal starvation in history, on the individuals' migration decisions in the long-run (1901-1924). Applying two different measures for identifying the extent of Famine in the county of origin of the migrants, excess mortality rates and the extent of relief provided in the form of food rations, we find that Famine was a crucial driver of individuals' migration choices. Instrumental variables estimation supports our findings. Finally, we construct a measure of migration networks through the identification of Famine migrants based on six rounds (1850-1910) of the US Census samples. Our results confirm that the migration in the long run was a chain movement since the Famine years. Chapter five examines return migration from the United States for the largest migrant sending country, Ireland, within the period of Mass Migration (1850-1913). This chapter is motivated by the emerging historical research on return migration. I show that around eleven percent of migrants returned home. I measure self-selection of return migrants from the rest of the population. I conclude that return migrants were not different from permanent migrants before leaving Ireland. I further that return migrants who were involved in agriculture and professional occupations, were positively selected from the rest of the population in Ireland, after their return. I also find negative selection of return migrants working in production, from the non-migrant population Finally, I link the return decisions to the land reforms of 1908 in Ireland. Chapter six provides concluding remarks.